Liverpool's five best January transfers of all time

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 2 Feb 2025 15:34 CST
• 4 min read

Liverpool remain one of the largest clubs in world football and their transfer success rate has been extremely impressive during the 2000s.

The Reds aren’t the biggest spenders in the Premier League, but they have picked up some incredible signings during the winter transfer window over the years.

Below, FootballTransfers runs through Liverpool’s five best January transfers of all time.

READ MORE: Liverpool's five most expensive January transfers of all time

Graeme Souness - €400k (from Middlesbrough, 1978)

Graeme Souness is a Liverpool legend and his €400,000 move from Middlesbrough in January 1978 is one of the best pieces of transfer business in the club’s history.

The Scotsman replaced Ian Callaghan at Anfield and he helped Liverpool establish themselves as arguably the best club in Europe during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

He won 16 trophies during his time at Liverpool, including the European Cup on three occasions and the English top flight on five occasions.

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Luis Suarez - €26.5m (from Ajax, 2011)

Fernando Torres’ departure to Chelsea in January 2011 forced Liverpool to sign a replacement, and the Reds couldn’t have handpicked a better successor than Luis Suarez.

The Uruguayan had netted 111 goals for Ajax and he immediately became one of the best forwards in world football upon his arrival at Anfield.

Suarez came within inches of firing Liverpool to the 2013-14 Premier League title, but despite that failure, he still scored 82 times in 133 games for the club before his move to Barcelona.

Daniel Sturridge - €15m (from Chelsea, 2013)

Daniel Sturridge enjoyed an extremely productive 2011-12 season at Chelsea, but competition for places and a hamstring injury plagued his start to the new campaign and Liverpool snapped him up for €15m in January 2013.

He scored 10 goals in his first 13 Premier League appearances for the Reds and firmly established himself as a centre-forward after spending significant time as a right winger at Chelsea.

Sturridge formed an epic strike partnership with Suarez and the pair were extremely unlucky to miss out on the 2014 title. In total, Sturridge scored 68 goals in 160 games for Liverpool and he eventually left the club to join Trabzonspor in 2019.

Philippe Coutinho - €13m (from Inter, 2013)

In addition to Sturridge, Liverpool also signed Philippe Coutinho during the 2013 January window and the Brazilian became a cult hero at Anfield.

He developed into one of the Premier League’s best attacking midfielders and was unfortunate to never win a trophy across his five-year spell at the club.

Coutinho racked up 54 goals and 43 assists in 201 games for Liverpool, before being signed by Barcelona for €135m in January 2018.

Virgil van Dijk - €84.7m (from Southampton, 2018)

Virgil van Dijk was courted by Liverpool for several months before his arrival was officially confirmed in late 2017.

Since then, the Dutchman has become one of the world’s best defenders and he finished second in the 2019 Ballon d’Or shortlist after an incredible year at Anfield.

Van Dijk helped Liverpool win the Champions League and the Premier League during his first two full seasons at the club, while he was the Reds’ most expensive signing of all time until the addition of Darwin Nunez.